


Surprise Field Trip

by ahunmaster, TheBigLoserQueen



Series: Ogre AU [12]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Accidents, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Angst, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, F/M, Het, Human, Interspecies Relationship(s), Kissing, Mistakes, Ogres, Royalty, Size Difference, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 06:57:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4656966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahunmaster/pseuds/ahunmaster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigLoserQueen/pseuds/TheBigLoserQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After falling asleep on someone's cart, Eclipse finds herself out the castle walls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Surprise Field Trip

It was the first warm day in forever and Eclipse was not going to let it pass by. Especially when her family had been so strict about her getting dirty or sick from the snow.  
  
After arguing with Megatron for an hour, he had reluctantly let her outside with two young guards to escort her while he attended to castle business. And man, had the smile on her face hurt because of how proud she was getting Megatron to let her go outside.  
  
Still, it was a bit of a short-lived trip. Most of the garden grounds were still covered with snow, so she was only able to travel so far before she had turn back.  
  
"We're sorry, Princess Eclipse. But the workers haven't been able to shovel the rest of the garden out yet.  There still working on cleaning up the main roads and paths of the rest of the castle."  
  
"No, no, it's okay. They have their own jobs to worry about. I just wanted to see the snow, that's all."  
  
The two guards blushed and nodded as they followed Eclipse to the main courtyard. They were still clearing out snow; so many carts and wagons were still parked from before. No one would be able to leave yet until the roads were completely cleared.  
  
"Excuse me, guards?" An older man approached the two guards from behind/ "Do you know when they will be letting us leave?"  
  
Both guards fumbled with their words as Eclipse turned around.  
  
"Oh, Princess Eclipse.” The old man bowed. "I did not see you there."  
  
"It's alright, sir.” She moved to address the man. "I'm afraid these two have been with me for most of the afternoon, so they don't know much."  
  
"Oh, my apologies Princess. I didn't know. I just wish to start heading home soon. My poor wife will be worried sick if I have to wait until tomorrow to start heading home."  
  
"I'm sure they will clear the roads soon."  
  
"I hope so too, Princess. I can't start preparing my cart unless I know for sure if I'll be able to go. It takes me forever to get it ready to go-"  
  
"Hey! The roads cleared. Start getting these people out of here!"  
  
A call from a guard by the gate alerted the group. Other farmers and merchants cheered as they began to prepare to file out.  
  
"Oh dear... I better start getting ready to go before I get stuck in traffic."  
  
"Do you need any help, sir?"  
  
"Oh, no, no, Princess.  I-I'll be just fine-"  
  
"It's alright." Eclipse turned to her two guards. "Can you two assist him with his cart please?"  
  
"W-What?"  
  
"B-But Princess Eclipse, we're supposed to be guarding you."  
  
"It's alright. I'll just wait here until this man is ready to go."  
  
"P-Princess, you shouldn't put yourself in danger just to help a lowly peasant like me-"  
  
"Oh, I'll be fine," she insisted, smiling up at the three men. "I won't wander off anywhere, I promise." Besides, she was lucky enough to be able to go outside in the first place. She wasn't about to do something that would make Megatron worry and never let her outside again.   
  
The two guards still seemed hesitant. Most likely because if something did happen to her, Megatron would kill them.   
  
Giving a small sigh, she point to an area of stacked crates. "I'll be right over there, so I won't be far off. Now please, help this man?"  
  
When they didn't say anything, she merely moved over to where the crates were. Once they realized they didn't really have much of a choice, they turned away from her to help the man with the cart while she observed. Good; she didn't want that older man to have to wait even longer to get out of here. After all, he did have a wife waiting for him.  
  
Eclipse wouldn't lie. She wished she could go out of the castle and wander about town. It had always been a curiosity of hers when she was younger, but she was never allowed outside the castle walls. Her parents didn't want her hanging around "dirty commoners," an insult she always felt was rather rude. Especially since coming to Megatron's kingdom, all the commoners she had come across were genuinely good people.   
  
Still, if she went out there without Megatron or Lugnut or someone Megatron's deeply trusted, the ogre king would most definitely lose his mind. Either with angry or worry, she wasn't entirely sure. Maybe both, but again, she wouldn't know. And yet, even though it would never happen, she really wanted to just walk around town for a bit. Visit the little shops and stores and bakeries in town and just sort of explore... Primus, it sounded so fun.  
  
Fun that she probably wouldn't get to have, if she were being honest with herself.   
  
Oh well. She could still have fun here in Megatron's castle. At least she had some friends here and people enjoyed talking to her because she was her and not simply royalty.    
  
Growing a bit bored of sitting there, she got up and looked around. She spotted one ogre and what appeared to be his son - probably no older than five - sitting on the back of their wagon, drinking something. It made her smile, finding the scene rather cute. Especially when the ogre child laughed.  
  
A part of her wished she had been that close to her parents. But, sadly as Megatron showed her, they didn't care for her like real parents. She was just a tool for them to use. Nothing more and nothing less... It had hurt at first, and sometimes thinking about it for too long made her sad, but she had mostly gotten over it. Still, the wish for real loving parents did come up every once in a while.  
  
Shaking her head of such thoughts, she hopped up onto a wagon nearby. Apparently when she had though, she had caught the little ogre child's attention, who smiled brightly and poked at his father. She had to laugh when the older ogre turned to what the child was now pointing at, giving a small wave to them and a smile. The father immediately bowed and pushed his son's hand down, scolding him. But the boy just kept smiling and pointing at her.  
  
It was too cute. And she knew he was just a child; he didn't know that pointing was considered impolite. Besides, she didn't mind too much in the first place.   
  
A yawn escaped her mouth. Right, she had been walking all day and she had gotten up early... but she didn't want to have to go inside just yet. It was a nice day and it had been a while since she had gone outside.  
  
Oh well, she thought as she pulled herself up more into the wagon, leaning back against a stack of wheat bags. She could just rest her eyes for a few moments and return to the two guards before they gave themselves heart attacks.    
  
But for now, she would just lean back and enjoy the sun's rays for just a few moments...

* * *

It was rather cold.  
  
Eclipse rubbed her eyes before shivering. Primus, it was cold. Well, sleeping outside wasn't such a good idea. She should probably get up and back to the guards before they-  
  
But as she opened her eyes, she was shocked to see something covering the sky.  
  
Adrenaline pumping, the princess sat up and popped her head over the blanket that covered her.  
  
This wasn't the courtyard. In fact, she had no idea where she was.  
  
It didn't look like anywhere where she had been before, even with Megatron when he took her outside the castle. And she couldn't see the castle with all these trees in the way.  
  
...Great.  She was somehow outside the castle with no idea where she was.  Her first thought was that she had been kidnapped by some hunter to take her back to her parents, but she quickly dismissed it. After all, she could still tell she was in Ogre territory by the sign on the blacksmith shop she was at. And since blacksmiths often didn't set up shop outside big towns, she must still be near Megatron's castle.  
  
And besides, any bounty hunter would have probably tied her up or at least put her on faster transport. Even if a wagon was the best way to sneak out, once someone noticed she was gone, they would be looking everywhere for her. A hunter's only chance to getting away safely would be to get her on a horse and run as fast as he could to the border.  
  
Eclipse thought it over and quickly sighed. The wagon. She had gotten into one and fallen asleep. The most likely explanation was that the wagon's owner left once the roads were clear and didn't notice her in the back. She was small compared to the ogre population.  
  
Well, she wasn't going to get anywhere sitting in this wagon. She would have to find her way back to the castle on her own.  
  
Shuffling the blanket, the princess moved to the edge and slowly got off, sitting down before letting herself slide off.  But at the same time, two ogres were outside the blacksmith talking. That hadn't seem to notice her yet... And they seemed rather engrossed in their conversation, so she didn't want to be rude...  
  
She looked back down the road she could only assume she came from. Well, from what she could see, they had gotten pretty far from the castle, though she could still see some of the towers from where she was standing. All right, it looked to be within walking distance... At least she hoped it was. She had no money on her to spend a night at an inn or anything of the sort.  
  
She blew into her hands in an attempt to warm up. Primus, she needed to get back... Oh no. Oh... Oh dear. The guards. Megatron. She wasn't there... Oh no. The guards were no doubt freaking out since they had to have noticed she was gone by now. And Megatron... Did he know? Were the guards still looking for her and attempting to hold off telling him for as long as possible? They were going to be in so much trouble if she didn't get back before Megatron noticed...  
  
A sneeze suddenly escaped her, catching the attention of the two ogres. She looked back at them, seeing their eyes widen in shock when they realized who she was. Oh right. She had taken off her hood.   
  
Their shocked faces quickly turned to horror and confusion as they exchanged glances with each other before rushing to herself.  
  
"Y-Your Highness, wh-what are you doing out here?!" the owner of the wagon cried. "Sh-Shouldn't you be in the palace?!"  
  
Now she just felt embarrassed. And a little stupid. But wanting to give these men answers and hopefully calm them down, she held up her hands and gave a pleasant, carefree smile. "I accidentally fell asleep on your wagon... It was my own fault-!"  
  
"I-I brought you here?!"  
  
Oh no, he was panicking. "N-No, no... No, it was my own clumsiness. Please don't worry about it-"  
  
"Princess, we need to get you back to the castle," the blacksmith said, kneeling down in front of her so he didn't tower over her. "I-It isn't safe for you to be out here by yourself-"  
  
"Oh, I'm fine, really." She turned to the wagon owner, who was still incredibly pale and gave him a small bow. "I apologize for hopping aboard your cart. I just fell asleep... Quite foolish, I know."  
  
"N-No, I-I should be the one apologizing, Your Highness-"  
  
"No worries, I promise." Well, now that she had their attention, she might as well see if they knew a quick path back to the castle. And she was certain that they did, considering they probably often traveled down in the area. "Um, if I may burden you two gentlemen, can you tell me how to get back to the castle? I unfortunately don't know the way back..."  
  
"I-I'll gladly take you back, Princess-"  
  
"Oh, no, I can walk, it's all right. Besides, I'm sure you would like to go back home." And she didn't want Megatron, if he had been told she was gone, to think that this man had kidnapped or something like that. She certainly didn't want him to suffer when he was the one kind enough to take her back. Not to mention this was all her fault in the first place.  
  
"B-But, Princess-"  
  
"Don't worry about me," she insisted. "I just need a quick path, is all."  
  
"Um-"  
  
"It's all right, Gearbox," the blacksmith said. "I can take her there-"  
  
"Oh, no, no, you shouldn't leave your work!" she cried, shaking her head furiously. "This work is how you feed you and your family. I couldn't possibly make you have to close up to escort me back!"  
  
"Your Highness, it'll be fine. There shouldn't be-"  
  
"There are plenty of other wagons that will pass by here and I'm certain that many will stop by." Eclipse didn't know much about a commoner's life, but she did understand that most travelers visited the nearest blacksmith if they had the chance. Especially if they had wagons and carts and whatnot. No doubt he would get more customers today and she didn't want him to lose out on his chance to make profit and end's meat.  
  
"I just need some directions, I'll be fine walking."  
  
"... Are you... sure, Princess?"  
  
She nodded. Truth to be told, if she didn't have anyone escorting her back, she could have maybe a little time to herself to explore the town a bit. Once she got to the heart of the town, anyway.   
  
"... All right. All you... have to do is fall the dirt path and take a left when you get to the giant apple tree... Even though it's not growing, you'll know what I mean. The path splits off into two main roads right before it, so just take the right and it's a straight shot to the castle."  
  
"Thank you very much, Mister...?"  
  
"B-Brainstorm, Your Highness."  
  
"Thank you, Mister Brainstorm. As you as well, Mister Gearbox. I'll find a way to show my gratitude better at a later date."  
  
The wagon owner only mumbled something out before he and the blacksmith bowed to her. She smiled and put on her hood, turning away to walk down the road. Hopefully it wouldn't take too long... She was glad she had dressed a little extra warmly today, even though she was only supposed to be outside for a short while. It would certainly make her walk in the snow a lot easier.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean you lost her?"  
  
Strika was not a nice woman when she was pissed off and these two knew they had pissed her off. She was supposed to be guarding Megatron while he met with some ambassadors and now she was being told that Miss Eclipse was missing.  
  
It was probably a good thing they had asked to speak to her in private rather than tell her right outside their King's tearoom. King Megatron would have heard that Miss Eclipse was missing and come right out and killed them then and there.  
  
At least with Strika, they stood a chance at explaining themselves.  
  
"W-We're sorry, Ma'am, but she-"  
  
"I don't care about apologies! I want to know how you lost sight of her when I told you two to stay by her side the whole time!"  
  
"S-She-" Gidget stuttered as the giant ogre guard stood over him. "S-She told us to h-help one of the farmers who got stuck here from last night's snow! W-We tried to say no, but s-she wouldn't listen!"  
  
"W-We know we weren't suppose to leave her side, but she insisted! A-And she said she would wait for us until the old farmer was on his way!"  
  
"H-Hatch is right! She said she would stay, but when we got back, she was gone!"  
  
"W-We looked everywhere, b-but we couldn't find her! A-And none of the other guards had seen her!"  
  
Strika bit her lip. This was bad. Miss Eclipse hadn't been seen for an hour and a half. She knew the young princess wanted to get outside after so long, but even Miss Eclipse knew better than to just hide from them.   
  
This wasn't good. If there had been a bounty hunter amongst the merchants and farmers, they could have easily snatched her away and have been far-gone before these two idiots had noticed.  
  
"Strika? Is something wrong?"  
  
Shit, she cursed as she saw General Bombrush come up from behind. But he may have been just whom she had been looking for.

"Sir, we have a problem."  
  
"Well, seeing as how the two next to you look ready to shit their pants, then it must be bad. What happened?"  
  
Strika glared at the two before turning fully around to her superior. "Princess Eclipse is missing, Sir Bombrush."  
  
"...What?!"  
  
"These two idiots were supposed to be with her while she went outside this afternoon, but they said that after they helped an old farmer prepare his cart on her orders, they couldn't find her afterwards."  
  
"You what? You two left the princess unguarded?" He looked around the ogress at the two shaking and much smaller ogres.  
  
"S-She o-ordered us to go help the farmer. A-And s-she said she would wait by the supplies that were to be brought in after everyone left. B-But she wasn't anywhere around there when we came back."  
  
"Shit," Bombrush cursed as he thought over something quick. "How long were you two with the farmer for?"  
  
"N-Not that long, sir."  
  
"Y-Yeah. It only took us like twenty, m-maybe thirty minutes. We were able to get the old man out with the first group before the rest left."  
  
"Thirty minutes. Shit." That wasn't good. And the fact that Eclipse had gone missing while so many people were leaving… If there was someone who had been there hoping to take Miss Eclipse back, it would have been the perfect opportunity.  
  
"Strika, how long has Megatron been with the ambassadors?"  
  
"About two hours, sir. I think they're in the middle of some talk about establishing more secure routes through King Megatron's territory."  
  
"So he'll be inside for about another hour at the most." Bombrush needed to act quickly. If Miss Eclipse had been snatched, there was no telling how far they had gotten. Still, to sneak a human woman out of ogre territory would be difficult. After all, everyone knew about Princess Eclipse and someone could easily notice a man with an unconscious woman and cry foul even if it was an ogre who had been sent to steal her back.  
  
If she had simply walked off, it was more than likely she had done this to get time to herself. But still, if she had gotten lost...  
  
"Don't tell Megatron anything yet. We can't have him lost it with these ambassadors just because Miss Eclipse hasn't been seen. For all we know, she may have simply wandered off and gotten lost."  
  
"But if she's been taken?"  
  
"Strika, order the castle staff and guards to look everywhere. Don't tell them Miss Eclipse is missing, just order a search saying a suspicious person was seen on the grounds. In any case, if Miss Eclipse is just wandering around lost, someone will find her and bring her back. I'll go send out messages to our borders to increase security and double check all cargo. If someone took her, they might try to smuggle her out of the kingdom. Even if they moved her onto a fast horse, they won't be able to reach the border in time before the messages do."  
  
"And our King? What do we tell him once he's done with the talks?"  
  
"... We won't be able to hide it from him. He'll know something is up once he gets out of his meeting. He always does. All we can do is hope to locate Miss Eclipse before he's done with the ambassadors. Once they're done and gone... we'll tell him the news."  
  
"...He will not be happy once we tell him the princess is missing."  
  
"I know," Bombrush sighed. "But there's little we can do about it without jeopardizing the talks. For now, let's get the searches going and hopefully this will just end with an embarrassed princess lost somewhere in the training grounds."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Oh, and you two." Bombrush turned to the two guards. "You're coming with me."  
  
"G-General Bombrush?"  
  
"You'll be helping me search once I get the messages going. I'm not risking you two running off to save your asses should Miss Eclipse not be found before Megatron is done with his talks."  
  
Gidget and Hatch turned pale. They were doomed. If Miss Eclipse wasn't found soon... their king would have their heads.  
  
And that was only if he was merciful enough to kill the first.

* * *

Eclipse quietly hummed to herself as she walked along the side of the path. It had been a rather easy walk, though a bit cold. Like the blacksmith had said, it was a simple walk with only the one turn at the apple tree. She probably would have gotten back into the busier part of town much faster had she not been walking so slowly, but she was rather enjoying herself, especially once she got into the busier part of town with the castle in much closer view.  
  
It was certainly interesting. She had never been in this sort of setting. At least not by herself. And she had never gotten the chance to just leisurely stroll around and be a part of the crowd. Normally, she stood out like a sore thumb, both in the human and ogre kingdoms. Especially the latter, mainly because of her tiny size.  
  
But she kept up her hood, so she was able to blend in a bit. Most just thought she was a stray or wandering child, so no one paid any mind to her. Not that she had any problems with it. She actually liked it. No one was being too overprotective of her, she wasn't being swarmed, she could take her time... It was sort of fun really and she had a feeling that she would never get a chance like this again, so she knew she had to make it last.  
  
She sniffed the air, smiling when she realized she smelled something good. Glancing up, she could see a bread sign hanging only a few shops down. Primus, how she wished she had some money with her... She should have thought of that before she went out today.  
  
Then again, it wasn't like she knew she was going to ever end up outside the castle walls.  
  
Once she reached the shop, she debated about going in. While she wanted to see what was being made, she thought it to be rude to enter someplace and not buy anything. Not to mention she didn't want to make the baker suspicious of her and think her to be a thief. Luckily for her though, there was a small window of the shop that displayed some of the items inside, so she decided to look at them.  
  
Though, she would have to wait, considering it seemed she wasn't the only one who had the idea.  
  
A group of children, probably just a little shorter than her, were all gathered at the window. She could hear them laughing and pushing at each other, hands pressed against the glass window as they pointed at what they saw and whined about how they wanted to eat but couldn't afford to buy anything.   
  
Her stomach growled. She certainly understood what the children meant.  
  
Seeing that the children didn't plan on moving any time soon, she gave up on waiting and moved over to the next shop. Primus, such pretty, hand-made jewelry... Maybe it was a bad idea to come out here. There was so much she wanted to buy, but she had no money to spend on it all. Definitely frustrating, especially when she saw a beautiful necklace with a butterfly shaped pendant.   
  
Before she could turn away from the window, a strong gust a wind came rushing through the air. Eclipse's hood was blown back and fell off of her head, more wind hitting her face. She shivered hard and reached back to quickly pull her hood back on. Primus, that was a bad wind...  
  
"Princess Eclipse!"  
  
Her eyes widened, instinctively turning the voice. There was a small child, a little girl, who was holding her mother's hand and pointing directly at her. Taking a quick look around, Eclipse suddenly realized that everyone was staring at her, no doubt because the girl had shouted her name out like that.  
  
"Look, look, Mommy, look! It's the princess!"  
  
Eclipse's eyes met with the mother, whose mouth fell open when she realized it was her. Oh dear... She had completely forgotten who she was for a moment. Yes, she was aware of her royal status, but she had forgotten that, to Megatron's people, she was some sort of priceless jewel or renowned celebrity that everyone wanted to see and admire and love. Not that it was a bad thing, but... These were ogres. They were all huge compared to her.  
  
And they tended to swarm around her when she was in public.  
  
The poor princess had no time to react as children and adults alike suddenly surrounded her. The adults never made any motion to touch her or come closer than three feet of her, but the children were the ones who attempted to squeeze through and fill their little bodies within that three-foot radius around her.  
  
"Princess!"  
  
"Princess Eclipse!"  
  
"Where is the king-?"  
  
"What are you doing here-?"  
  
"Is there something you need-?"  
  
"Princess! Princess!"  
  
"Is there anything we can help you with-?"  
  
"Princess Eclipse!"  
  
"Your Highness!  
  
"Princess!"  
  
Eclipse knew none of them would try to hurt her, but she was still feeling very small surrounded by so many ogres. Everyone was talking and asking questions and she couldn't think of anything to say...  
  
"I-I-I-!"  
  
"Princess!"  
  
"Princess Eclipse?"  
  
"Are you with anyone, my lady?"  
  
"Your Highness!"  
  
Too much. It was too much. There were so many people. So many people all around her, looking at her. She wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go and it would be rude to all these people who were just curious and confused as to why she was out here.  
  
She wanted to curl up into a ball. She wanted to crawl into her bed and hide. She wanted to get away from these people. They all seemed concerned, but there was just so many... so many people.  She just wanted to get away-  
  
"Move! I said move!"  
  
Eclipse could almost feel tears falling when she realized the crowd was being dispersed by someone. Even though they were only a little bit bigger, this ogre was able to move the crowd with ease to reveal-  
  
"Princess?" A darker-skinned ogre approached her, kneeling down between the few children who had stayed next to the princess despite the others scattering. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Y-You're-" He... He looked like the General, but he... he was so much younger. Wait, wasn't he there when she had come-?  
  
"Why are you out here? Where are your escorts?"  
  
"I-I-I-"  
  
He gave an annoyed huff and shook his head. "Figures, my stupid father assigns people to protect you and they don't even do their jobs right," the young ogre muttered under his breath so that only Eclipse heard him.   
  
She said nothing as she watched the ogre turn to the crowd, waving his hand at them. "Alright everyone, break it up! Move!"  
  
Eclipse didn't know what had happened, but soon found the crowd dispersing and backing away from her and the ogre guard. Bloodshed eventually directed her back along the path and attempted to quickly escort her back before something else happened.  
  
The poor princess could hear the man grumbling to himself. Oh no... Was he angry that he had to rescue her? Or was it about his father? While she didn't know this man very well, it was obvious that he didn't hold his father in high regard... Which surprised her, considering how much of a gentleman Bombrush was.    
  
"S-Sir?"  
  
"It's just Bloodshed, Princess... and I'm sorry about before, but I couldn't leave you in that sort of situation. It could have very well turned into a riot and you would have gotten hurt."  
  
"... Still, I'm sorry, I-"  
  
But he shook his head and held up his hand to stop her. "Don't worry. It's not your fault your escorts lost sight of you." Though he was shocked that she was even out here in the first place. He knew his king didn't like letting the princess out of the castle unless he was there with her. Or Lugnut.   
  
"Um..."  
  
"Princess?"  
  
"... I don't have any escorts with me," she admitted softly, cheeks reddening a bit in embarrassment. "I... sort of ended up hitching a ride on a wagon outside the castle... It was a complete accident, so I... just asked for directions and was making my way back to the castle..."  
  
She couldn't say anything as the guard just stared at her with this deadpanned look. Now she felt even more stupid and embarrassed... Well, it was a rather dumb situation she got herself caught up in. And how it all happened... All because of her own foolishness. And the fact that she fell asleep.  
  
Bloodshed wouldn't lie to himself. For someone who was as intelligent as Eclipse, that was really fucking stupid. But he wouldn't say it out loud. He could tell that the princess was embarrassed enough by it. Besides, he had a friend who made even stupider mistakes, so he could hardly criticize her.   
  
Whatever, it didn't matter anymore. The mistake had been made and no doubt the castle was being flipped upside down by the king looking for her. Hopefully no one was dead... At least not yet. But he had no idea how long the woman had been gone, so for all he knew, there were fifty people dead by both of Megatron's swords and the castle walls were stained in blood.   
  
Hopefully he could get her back there before that happened.   
  
"Come on," he said, shaking his head. "Let's just get you back before something else happens."  
  
She nodded, giving a small sigh. She had probably had had enough adventure for one day... Still, it had been fun. At least she had been able to enjoy her time outside. Especially considering when she got back to the castle, she would be lucky if Megatron would let her out in the next year.   
  
She could only hope Bombrush would be able to appease him. 

* * *

As most of the castle staff knew of, crashing and terrorizing screams were just a small portion of their king's temper. Everyone knew of the Ogre King's anger, but it was rare of anyone outside the castle staff to witness any of it... or the repercussions.  
  
And sadly for two of those guards, they had front row seats to the beginning of what would be one of  _those_  temper tantrums... to put it lightly.  
  
"I SHOULD HAVE YOUR HEADS FOR THIS!"  
  
"Megatron... Megatron, calm down before you destroy another table."  
  
Both guards, having lost the protection of hiding behind Bombrush, were now hiding behind the overturned desk in the meeting room as said ogre and the king's two bodyguards were holding back the enraged monarch.  
  
"THEY ABANDONED THEIR POST! THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO BE GUARDING ECLIPSE!"  
  
"Yes, we know that. But we forgot to take into consideration to order them to remain by her side even if she orders them to leave."  
  
Megatron stopped moving to catch his breath, giving the Army General and his bodyguards a breather. Growling, he removed himself from their grasp to step back before he turned on his general.  
  
"How long has she been missing?"  
  
"... Two and a half hours. These two last saw her when she had ordered them to help out that farmer. When they came back thirty minutes later, they began their own search for her before they came to report her disappearance to Strika and myself, which had been about an hour ago."  
  
"... So you knew she had been missing and you're only  _now_  telling me about it?!?"  
  
"You were in the middle of talks with those ambassadors-"  
  
"I could have been talking with Primus himself and it wouldn't have mattered! Eclipse is missing and you fools have been standing around doing  _nothing!_ "  
  
Bombrush sighed as he reached up to rub his forehead. "We have the castle staff searching the grounds and we sent messengers out to the borders to double check all cargo. We didn't want to start up anything if it was just a false alarm-"  
  
"WHAT-?!”  
  
"My King, we have no evidence to prove that Princess Eclipse was taken," Strika added in before the King could go after the general. "I-It may just be that she has simply wandered off on her own and hasn't come back yet."  
  
"Strika is right. While we are taking this seriously, we cannot just start mobilizing troops simply because the Princess decided to step away for some time by herself. While Eclipse is smart, she has been stuck inside this castle for almost a year. It may be that she simply wished to get some time to herself in the gardens without escorts crowding her."  
  
Megatron looked ready to explode, literally, as his eyes grew even redder while his teeth started to grind against each other.  
  
"... You come with that bullshit excuse when Eclipse went missing BY THE CASTLE GATES?!"  
  
Bombrush and Strika didn't have much of an answer for that. Yes, she had gone missing while the farmers and merchants were leaving, but they couldn't just go tracking all of them down to search their cargo. Even if someone had, it would be too late by now. The chances of her having been moved to another wagon, cart, or even horse were incredibly high.  
  
"...The border has been notified to search all carts and wagons leaving the kingdom. If anyone has tried to escape with Lady Eclipse, they won't be able to get out of the kingdom with her."  
  
" _That doesn't mean they won't try and you fucking idiots didn't bother to inform me about this sooner!_ "  
  
Bombrush knew that hope for keeping Megatron calm was now officially lost. Not to say that he completely blamed him... After all, he didn't like Eclipse going outside without him, fearing that she would be taken back to her kingdom and be shipped off to marry some random human king. Still, for Megatron to love the girl as much as he did... He could rather frightening with anything concerning her. Obsessed bastard, but for someone like Megatron, it was understandable.  
  
The king didn't even bother with the two cowering idiots. He would deal with them later. Personally. But all he could focus on was Eclipse. She was missing. No one had seen her since the wagons and carts had left the castle. And that was Primus knew how long ago.   
  
And no one bothered to tell him until now because who fucking knew why?  
  
He stormed out of the room, Strika, Lugnut, and Bombrush quickly following after him.  
  
"M-My Lord, wh-where are you going?!"  
  
"To find Eclipse-!"  
  
"Megatron!" Bombrush quickly caught up to the man and roughly grabbed a hold of his arm. "You need to calm down! Eclipse is-!"  
  
" _-is missing because of those two idiotic bastards!_ " he snarled, swinging his arm and freeing himself from his general's grip. "And since you won't do anything to actually look for her, I'll have to find her myself!"  
  
"And go out into the public in a murderous rampage?! You're going to kill someone-!"  
  
"If it means I can find Eclipse, I don't-"  
  
"Well, I guess this means we all know that the princess is missing."  
  
The new voice stopped everyone's shouting, jerking their heads over to see Bombrush's son, Captain Bloodshed, standing at the end of the hallway. No one was sure how to react to him standing there, letting alone making a rather apathetic comment towards his raging ruler. For one thing, he wasn't even on duty today and Bombrush knew he was supposed to be out with his friends in the market.   
  
So how did he know Eclipse was missing?  
  
"Blood-"  
  
"I hope you haven't killed anyone since Princess Eclipse is fine," he said, addressing the king as he ignored his father.   
  
Megatron's eyes widened. He would have been mored irritated with the fact that the other seemed to speak with him in such a familiar way (like father, like son, he supposed), but the second he heard about Eclipse's condition was the second he ignored that fact to come up to the guard.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
Bloodshed didn't say anything and simply looked over his shoulder. Everyone peered over to see the young human woman standing behind the corner, peeking her head out with a timid, frightened expression on her face. Primus, she looked like a little lost child...  
  
But Megatron paid little mind to it as he pushed back the guard and kneeled down in front of her, pulling her out from the behind the corner and into his chest. The princess gave a small squeak, but didn't fight back as his arms held her tightly against his chest.  
  
"Bloodshed."  
  
He turned to look at his father, who was just staring at him in disbelief.  
  
"Where did you find her?"  
  
The captain paused for a few moments before glancing back at the young woman. Then he gave a heavy huff and shook his head. "She was wandering around in the marketplace and got surrounded by... fans. Apparently, the princess decided to fall asleep in someone's wagon and found herself outside the castle walls... And then she walked back. In the snow. Alone. With absolutely no one to protect her."   
  
The flat, monotone voice was enough to convey the captain’s own annoyances with the situation, which only made Eclipse feel smaller than she already was. All right, yes, what she had done was very incredibly stupid of her, but she was fine! Nothing happened! She wouldn't think of doing it again, but still! She had been fine...  
  
But it seemed like Megatron wasn't. Primus, she knew he got protective over her, so her disappearing like that must have set him off.  
  
Now she knew he was never going to let her outside again. And after she had just managed to get some time outside-  
  
A gasp left her as her feet left the ground, her legs being pulled up to have her resting in the king's arms. She blushed when he turned back to his subjects.  
  
"Bombrush, have the security at the border returned to normal. And lift the order to search the castle. I want them back to their normal post within the hour."  
  
"Of course." Bombrush's head bowed before he brought his head back up. "Am I to assume correctly that you will be a little late meeting with Starscream's messenger this evening?"  
  
"I'll be there on time. But I do not want any disturbances until then."  
  
All four bowed to him as Megatron turned and left. Eclipse didn't know what to do, but as they approached his room, she suddenly started to ramble.  
  
"M-Megatron, I-I know you don't want me outside the castle walls without you, but p-please u-understand... I fell asleep- Yes, I know I shouldn't be sleeping outside in the cold, b-but I was just resting and then I fell asleep and then I found myself outside the castle-!  A-And please don't punish the merchant who brought me outside!  H-He d-didn't know I was in his wagon!  I-I had sat inside it behind some wheat- B-But h-he didn't do anything wrong!  He even offered to bring me back, but I didn't want to make him late getting home or having to travel on the roads after sunset and all-!"  
  
"Eclipse."  
  
Her voice failed her as his softly broke hers. As she blinked, she realized that they were in front of his room.  
  
Nothing else passed between them as he entered and closed the door behind them. Only when it was locked behind them did he put her down. But his grip never left her, his ogre hands resting, engulfing, her shoulders.  
  
"M-Megatron, p-please don't punish anyone. I-If you have to punish anyone, p-please punish me. I-I was the one who made my escorts leave. I was stupid to sleep inside someone else's wagon. A-And I was the one who decided to walk back to the castle on my own. I-If you want, I-I won't leave the castle anymore, I-I swear. J-Just please don't-!"  
  
Another hug silenced her this time. It was an odd thing to experience since the Ogre King was usually not this... touchy with her.  
  
"M-My King?"  
  
He still didn't say anything. But before Eclipse could ask again, he pulled back from the hug to lean in and kiss her.  
  
Her eyes widened. Wait... Megatron... was kissing her?! Wasn't he angry?! Primus, just a few minutes ago, he seemed ready to kill someone... And now he was kissing her and holding her tight against his chest.  
  
When his tongue finally slipped in, she moved her hands up to grip his shoulders. She shuddered and moaned against his tongue, finding it hard to breathe as he wouldn't stop kissing her... It had started off surprisingly slow, almost gentle, but now... He was just getting more and more aggressive, his lips pushing harder against hers. His tongue just continued to map out her mouth, making her unable to speak or even breathe properly.  
  
She tried pushing at his shoulders, but the king wouldn't budge. Oh Primus, her vision was fuzzy and he was hurting her. She couldn't breathe!  
  
"MMMM!! MMM!" She started slamming her tiny fists on his shoulders in an attempt to break the kiss. A part of her started to fear that he was just completely blocking her out, only doing what he wanted to do which could end up causing her to pass out... Perhaps he was doing it on purpose as punishment?  
  
He finally released her lips, allowing Eclipse to turn her head sharply away as she gasped for air. Her legs almost gave out, but she slumped against the ogre's chest, still gripping his shoulders tightly to keep herself up. Though his grip wasn't as painful as it was before, it was still tight and he refused to let her go.  
  
If anything, once she regained her breath, he raised a hand up to gently cup her head to his chest.  
  
"M-Megatron-?"  
  
"I thought you had been taken back."  
  
She blinked and attempted to look up at him. But he buried his face into her shoulder, his hands gripping her tightly before loosening up a bit.  
  
"... I thought you had been taken back to your parents," he murmured darkly. "I thought I would never see you again... Your parents would have sent you off to marry some bastard king who would hurt you... I couldn't..."  
  
"M-Megatron, r-really, I-I'm all right..."  
  
"But I didn't know that," he hissed, pulling her even closer. "I didn't know... And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know... what I would do. If you had gone back... I won't let that happen... I  _can't_  let that happen."   
  
"Pl-Please, i-it's okay... I-I'm all right and not hurt..."  
  
That didn't seem to have any effect on the king, who still hadn't removed his head from her shoulder.   
  
"I won't let them take you... I won't let them take you away from me. Even if they did, I would for you. Even if I had to travel to the ends of this forsaken world, I would..."  
  
Eclipse bit her lip before she had to let it go in order to avoid biting through as he pulled her even closer. While she had been upset about the Ogre King never letting her outside, she could understand his concerns. And this only made her have to once again acknowledge the possible consequences for taking such a small stroll outside the safety of the castle walls.  
  
"...Megatron?"  
  
He still wasn't letting her go, but he did loosen his grip enough to let her arms move more.  
  
"It's... It's alright. I'm... I'm not going anywhere. I won't go back. I won't leave you here alone."  
  
The ogre didn't do anything, but as the princess's arms came up to hug him, his body moved to engulf her further. From an outsider's perspective, it was like he was trying to swallow her whole with his body.  
  
But Eclipse knew better. He was scared. He just didn't want to admit he was scared of losing her.  
  
And she could understand. Because she knew that the confines of this castle were the only place they could be safe in together.  
  
Because if she was taken away, even if he swore to come back for her, she may never see him again.  
  
The thought of that was enough to make her hug him tighter as they stood there in the dead silence, trying to forget the fear of what could have happened.


End file.
